ONR grants extension to Devonport

1 December, 2017

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has granted more time to Devonport Royal Dockyard Limited (DRDL) to fully embed its improvements to the management of lifting operations and crane maintenance on the 9 dock facility.

The two Improvement Notices were issued after several crane-related events on the 9 dock facility between May and July 2017. DRDL took the decision to voluntarily stop all crane operations across the 9 dock facility. Crane operations were resumed following return to service inspections undertaken by ONR. These inspections provided confidence to ONR that temporary arrangements put in place were sufficient to safely manage lifting operations and crane maintenance on the 9 dock facility, whilst wide ranging improvements were made to address the improvement notices.

After careful review of the considerable progress made so far, ONR agreed this week to extend the original notices by a period of three weeks. This period was requested by DRDL to allow it to fully embed and test implementation of the improvements it has made. ONR remains satisfied that this does not impact nuclear safety.

A spokesperson for the Office for Nuclear Regulation said: “DRDL have made significant improvements to both the management of lifting operations and crane maintenance on the 9 Dock facility. The extension enables DRDL to ensure that the changes are fully implemented across the 9 Dock facility and provides opportunity for the licensee to complete its own reviews of the effectiveness of the improvements. ONR considers that the temporary arrangements DRDL has put in place continue to ensure safe crane operations on the 9 Dock facility.”

DRDL is now obliged to complete the requirements of the two Improvement Notices by 22 December 2017.